


English is Hard

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Learning English, idioms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9302879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry ;)





	

“What do you feel like eating?” Derek asked, as Y/N scanned the menu. She was looking back and forth between a couple of things. They were at a new place around the corner that was known in the area for having the best desserts around.

“I’m not sure,” she said, scanning more for the word she was looking for. She actually didn’t know the word she was looking for - she just knew that she’d know it when she heard it. “What’s the ice cream thing with a lot of scoops and stuff that goes on top?” She made a drizzling motion with her hand. “It has the same name as a month or a number or…”

“A sundae!” he exclaimed, watching as her face went red with embarrassment. She always got bashful when she couldn’t remember words, but she’d only come to America for graduate school a year and a half, so she would still miss words on occasion. She was learning and she constantly asked questions - he admired her for it.

She covered her face with her hands, stifling her laughter. “I should’ve known that word. Sundae/Sunday! That’s what I want, a big sundae with chocolate and strawberry ice cream and fluff on top.”

“Fluff?” Derek asked, a bit confused.

“Marshmallow stuff,” she said. “And maybe gummy bears…”

———-

That night, Derek and Y/N decided to stay in and watch movies together. Originally, they were going to go out to dinner with the team, but they both got insanely full from the enormous ice cream sundae they decided to share.

While Derek switched on TV, loading the movie they’d chosen on, Y/N went to the kitchen to grab a couple of bottles of water out of the refrigerator. On her way over, she accidentally grazed the stove door with her leg, causing it to fall down as she moved. “You need new stuff,” she said, opening the door and searching for the word she was thinking of.

“What kind of stuff?” Derek asked. He hadn’t seen anything happen with the stove and Y/N had just realized there was a problem with the refrigerator.

“New things,” she said pointing to the refrigerator and stove. Derek pointed out that that’s what they were called, but she knew that. “I’m looking for what you call them when they are more than one.”

“Appliances?” Derek wondered, watching with joy as Y/N’s face lit up.

“That’s the word I was looking for,” she said, grabbing a water bottle and tossing it to Derek. “The refrigerator isn’t cold. The water bottles are all warm. I think it broke - and the stove just fell over as I walked by. Your appliances,” she said, enunciating the word to get the hang of it, “need replacing.”

“Yea, they do,” he sighed, turning back toward to television as Y/N came back to sit in his lap. “I’ve just been home so little lately, I keep forgetting.”

———-

During the night, Y/N was able to learn a lot of American slang she wasn’t aware of, asking Derek each time she didn’t understand. “What does that mean?” she asked, her voice distorted in confusion. “Dutch are people aren’t they?”

He chuckled a little, kissing her forehead as he explained the meaning of “going Dutch.” “Going Dutch just means that when two people go out on a date, they’ll pay for their own meals, rather than have one person or the other take care of the whole bill themselves.”

“Oh,” she drew out. “That’s a weird saying. Where does that come from?”

He had no idea. “I actually don’t know. Next time we see Spencer you should ask him. I bet you anything he’ll know.”

“Now what does that mean?” Y/N asked about 30 minuets later. “What does the cold shoulder mean? It has nothing to do with the weather does it?”

“No,” he said, wrapping his arms around her chest and pulling her back into him. “The cold shoulder means deliberately ignoring someone. Again, English is weird and I have no idea where the phrase came from - and now I’m interested. We need to ask Spencer.”

“Yes, we do,” she said, grabbing a blanket and cuddling into him. “Maybe he can explain why English is so weird.”

Later on, after the first movie had finished, they popped in another one. “Does that just mean put in or put something on the TV? Popped?” 

“Actually, yes,” Derek said, not realizing how much of America’s daily language was idiomatic in nature.

Y/N still had so much to learn. “I feel like I still have such a long way to go, but I already feel like I’ve come so far,” she said.

“Don’t worry,” he replied, bending down and kissing her forehead before sitting on the couch once again. “Even people who are born here don’t always know all the colloquial words. You’ll get there.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But English is hard.”

“Damn straight,” he replied.

“Now what’s that mean?!”


End file.
